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Tag: DUI Checkpoint

  • CHPD: 2 arrested, 29 cited in Labor Day DUI checkpoint

    DUI checkpoint, citrus heights, police
    Citrus Heights police conduct a DUI checkpoint operation earlier this year on Auburn Boulevard. File photo // Citrus Heights Sentinel

    A Labor Day Weekend DUI checkpoint on Antelope Road near Rusch Park resulted in two DUI arrests and nearly 30 citations, according to a lieutenant with the Citrus Heights Police Department.

    Setting up Sunday evening and continuing past midnight, Lt. David Gutierrez said CHPD’s Traffic Unit screened 805 vehicles and conducted nine sobriety field tests, resulting in the two DUI arrests. The DUI and driver’s license checkpoint also resulted in 11 vehicles being towed and 29 citations were issued for various vehicle code violations, including driving without a valid license or driving with a suspended license.

    Citrus Heights police conduct checkpoints several times a year and have said the operations are a proven way to reduce drunk driving violations, with officers briefly stopping drivers to look for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, as well as checking for valid driver’s licenses.

    [Want to know why police announce DUI checkpoints in advance? See story: CHPD wins $182k grant for more DUI checkpoints, safety enforcement]

    Last month, police arrested a 36-year-old driver for “felony DUI causing injury,” after colliding head-on with another vehicle on a side-street behind the Citrus Heights Raley’s. Other local DUI-related statistics from police were not readily available upon request.

    A prior DUI checkpoint held in June on San Juan Avenue resulted in 689 vehicles being screened, with nine being cited, two vehicles being impounded, and one man arrested for a “felony no-bail drug warrant.”

    Police said funding for the checkpoint was obtained through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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  • Police: Greenback DUI Checkpoint nets 2 arrests, 30 citations

    Police: Greenback DUI Checkpoint nets 2 arrests, 30 citations

    A “Friday the 13th” DUI Checkpoint at Greenback Lane and Birdcage Street resulted in screening of 920 vehicles, with police arresting two for drug-related DUIs and 30 being cited for various violations, according to a sergeant with the Citrus Heights Police Department.

    Citrus Heights police DUI checkpoint. Photo by Luke Otterstad
    Citrus Heights police conduct a DUI Checkpoint operation on Auburn Boulevard in January.

    The seven-hour DUI and drivers license checkpoint began around 8 p.m. Friday, with Sergeant David Gutierrez telling The Sentinel the date was selected due to it being the weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day. He said the location was selected “based on recent DUI collision and DUI arrest data.”

    Gutierrez said officers administered five sobriety field tests which resulted in the arrests made, with additional citations being issued for violations including suspended and unlicensed driver issues.

    [From January: Weekend DUI Checkpoint nets 1 arrest, 6 tows]

    The Department’s last DUI Checkpoint operation was held last month on Antelope Road which resulted in a similar number of cars screened, but no DUI arrests — although officers arrested a driver after discovering a loaded handgun and an illegal assault rifle in his vehicle, according to a February 26 police media release.

    [Want to know why police publicize DUI Checkpoints ahead of time? Find that answer in our prior story: Police plan ‘Friday the 13th’ DUI Checkpoint]

    CHPD acquires funding for its checkpoints through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with the Department’s most recent grant being awarded last October for $182,525.